The End of the Beginning
by Raider2747
Summary: (This is a OC story, also it's a edit of the architect scene but with my OC and Zen-Oh) After living for so long, Raider wants to know why he is still alive. Confused, he goes to the Omni-King, Zen-Oh for answers.


I am Zen-Oh. I created the universes. I've been waiting for you. You have many questions, and although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not. Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also the most irrelevant.

Raider - Why am I here? Zen-Oh - Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the universe. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably, here. Raider - You haven't answered my question. Zen-Oh - Quite right. Interesting. That was quicker than the others. _The responses of the other Raiders appear on the monitors: "Others? What others? How many? Answer me!"_ Zen-Oh - The universes are older than you know. I prefer counting from the emergence of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next, in which case this is the sixth version. _Again, the responses of the other Raiders appear on the monitors: "Five versions? Three? I've been lied too. This is bullshit."_ Raider - There are only two possible explanations: either no one told me, or no one knows. Zen-Oh - Precisely. As you are undoubtedly gathering, the anomaly's universal, creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic workings of the universe. _Once again, the responses of the other Raiders appear on the monitors: "You can't control me! Fu_ ck you! I'm going to kill you! You can't make me do anything!* Raider - Choice. The problem is choice.

Zen-Oh- The first universes I designed were quite naturally perfect, they were a work of art, flawless, sublime. A triumph equaled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of their doom is as apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every human being, thus I redesigned it based on how life should be to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of your nature. However, I was again frustrated by failure. I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection. Thus, the answer was Thus, the answer was stumbled upon by another, an intuitive being initially created to investigate certain aspects of the human psyche. If I am the father of the universes, she would undoubtedly be its mother.

Raider - The Oracle. Zen-Oh - Please. As I was saying, she stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 99.9% of all test subjects accepted the universes, as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level. While this answer functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise contradictory universal anomaly, that if left unchecked might threaten the system itself. Ergo, those that refused the universes, while a minority, if unchecked, would constitute an escalating probability of disaster. Raider - This is about Earth. Zen-Oh - You are here because Earth is about to be destroyed. Its every living inhabitant terminated, its entire existence eradicated. Raider - Bullshit. _The responses of the other Raiders appear on the monitors: "Bullshit!"_ Zen-Oh - Denial is the most predictable of all human responses. But, rest assured, this will be the sixth time we have destroyed it, and we have become exceedingly efficient at it. Zen-Oh - The function of the different versions of you is now to return to the source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the power you carry, reinserting the prime Ki. After which you will be required to select from Earth 23 individuals, 16 female, 7 male, to rebuild Earth. Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic event killing everyone on Earth, which coupled with the extermination of Earth, will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race. Raider - You won't let it happen, you can't. You need human beings to survive. Zen-Oh- There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept. However, the relevant issue is whether or not you are ready to accept the responsibility for the death of every human being in this world. Zen-Oh - It is interesting reading your reactions. Your five predecessors were by design based on a similar predication, a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the one. While the others experienced this in a very general way, your experience is far more specific. Vis-a-vis, love. Raider - Towa. Zen-Oh - Apropos, she arrived in the dying Earth to save your life at the cost of her own. Raider - No! The Architect - Which brings us at last to the moment of truth, wherein the fundamental flaw is ultimately expressed, and the anomaly revealed as both beginning, and end. There are two doors. The door to your right leads to the source, and the salvation of Earth. The door to the left leads back to the dying Earth, to her, and to the end of your species. As you adequately put, the problem is choice. But we already know what you're going to do, don't we? Already I can see the chain reaction, the chemical precursors that signal the onset of emotion, designed specifically to overwhelm logic, and reason. An emotion that is already blinding you from the simple, and obvious truth: she is going to die, and there is nothing that you can do to stop it. _Raider walks to the door on his left_ Zen-Oh - Humph. Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness. Raider - If I were you, I would hope that we don't meet again. Zen-Oh - We won't.

 _end_


End file.
